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Ford says he was 'very surprised' by the news

Toronto's City Mayor Rob Ford stands with his brother Toronto City Councillor Doug Ford as he attends a Conservative Party BBQ in Toronto on Thursday August 29, 2013.Photo: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

Toronto Police have charged Alessandro (Sandro) Lisi, one of Mayor Rob Ford’s inner circle, with drug trafficking and three other charges.

Lisi, 35, was arrested along with Jamshid Bahrami, 47, at a dry cleaning shop in west Toronto on Tuesday around 7:15 p.m.

Lisi has previously been implicated in the crack scandal that shook Toronto politics in the summer, when Gawker and the Toronto Star reported having seen a video showing the mayor smoking crack cocaine. Lisi was allegedly involved in trying to hunt down the video before it could leak to the press. The Toronto Star also reported Lisi had claimed to have supplied Ford with drugs.

Ford and his associates deny the crack allegations and, to date, no one except Gawker editor John Cook and two Star reporters have seen the alleged video.

Lisi has been charged with trafficking marijuana, possession of marijuana, possession of the proceeds of crime and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence. Bahrami was charged with cocaine possession, three counts of trafficking marijuana and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence. Both men appeared in court later on in the day, at Toronto’s Old City Hall.

"He is a great guy and he is straight as an arrow" Mayor Rob Ford on Sandro Lisi in August – Lisi is now facing 4 criminal charges #TOpoli

Lisi is one of a number of close friends of the Ford family who have been under scrutiny since the crack scandal broke in May.

In addition to Lisi, Ford’s logistics director David Price was also reportedly tracking the video and more recently got into an altercation with a transit worker at a GO train station.

Bruno Bellissimo, a childhood friend of Ford’s, is a recovering crack addict who was arrested in the spring assaulting his parents. The mayor tried to visit Bellissimo in jail on March 26, according to the Globe and Mail, but was turned away.

Peter Kordas, a former TTC driver, occasionally acts as Ford’s driver when the mayor “wants to go out at night,” according to a Toronto Star report in August.

The arrest is "in connection with an ongoing criminal investigation," police say. The listed detective is "Gary Giroux, Homicide Squad."